The ninth part of Ordinary People begins and ends with a journey, and whilst both journeys are taken by the same character, whose name is Percival, they are very different in nature and intent. For Percival is also on a voyage of discovery, in which he must lay the ghosts and anxieties of his recent past to rest once and for all, regardless of the consequences. Here we also meet again Rose, daughter in law to the Lord and Lady, who must make a decision which could affect her life in the most fundamental way possible, and not only her own life will be affected, however she decides. Rebecca, who is pregnant with the child of Michael Tillington, receives information which she must for now ignore in the interests of her unborn child. For Sophia also goes on a journey with her lover, Damien, in search of the source of the evil which has haunted the village for so long, and she is successful in her search. We also follow the fortunes of Tara in her quest to become a professional singer, and in this context we meet again Ashley Spears and the rest of the still recently reformed music ensemble that is Dead Man’s Wealth. In this book we once again encounter death and new birth, and learn how events which occurred hundreds of years ago resonate into the lives of our modern day characters. And at times throughout this part of our tale we meet again Victoria Tillington, who becomes quite convinced that something which is quite taken for granted within her family is not at all as it seems. Victoria thus finds that she has yet more secrets to keep, lest the revealing of them should tear her already conflict wracked family still further apart.
